Winter Solace
by icarly1969
Summary: "Why would someone willingly live in the middle of this freezing wasteland?" / "That's exactly the point I've been trying to make for the past few centuries! I don't know her name and I already like her!" / "Focus, we are here on an important meeting to discuss strat -" / "Why is there a talking kangaroo in the middle of what I suspect is the Antarctic?" Written for a challenge.
1. Prologue

_Hi, everyone, I'm not dead! This story is written for the Cross Fandom Pairing Challenge, the link is on my profile. There is a slight modification to Harry Potter timeline, as the first Wizarding War would only be ending in 1989. Otherwise, it should adhere to canon, on both sides. This story is rated T to be safe. There will be some violence, since there will be a war (or mentions of one), but other than that, it should be pretty child friendly._

Fandoms: Rise Of The Guardians & Harry Potter  
Characters: North & Nymphadora Tonks

**Prologue**

She was seven when she first used magic, albeit accidentally. Well, that excludes the times she made her hair vibrantly violet because she could, or the times she made her nose become crooked like her grandmother's, or the times… well, all the times she altered her appearances, obviously.

She grew up being told to keep her head down and learn everything she could, to better equip herself, to prepare for the eventuality. What eventuality, she had no idea, but she did what she was told, dutifully, if only to make her parents less worried. They were always anxious, she noticed, but she never quite understood why. Sure, she knew that they lived in a world where a scary wizard controls everything, and that the scary wizard does not like their family, for some reason, but she did not understand why her parents could not be happy like her, why they always walked around with their heads down and a semi-frown on their face. They were strong and brave people who deserves to hold their heads high and they were the most powerful people she had ever known.

(Not that she had known many people at that age - her closest friend was her bunny, Mr. Hippity Hoppity Hop, and her kitten, Muppets. And there was the new boy down the streets, Jacques Tabot, the only one in their little town who would talk to her without belittling her, the only one who treated her as an equal, but she wasn't sure if he counted as a friend, because they only knew each other for a grand total of three days.)

It was the day before Christmas Eve. She had not truly understood what was going on, not when her parents came back from their jobs and woke her up in the middle of the night, telling her that she needs to get dressed and pack everything she could not leave behind. Not when they were reassuring her that everything was alright even though they were going somewhere else and might not be coming back for quite awhile. Not when they were telling her that she might never meet her newest best friend, Jacques, again.

Then again, she did not need to understand what was going on. When they came, wands drawn, she knew enough to understand that this was probably why her parents were always tense. They fought, of course, but the battle was clearly lost before it started. Barely half a minute after those creepy wizards and witches knocked down the door, her parents went down too. They cleared out, looking for something, when one of them noticed her. She knew that he shouted something, but she could not really hear him. She scrambled backwards, out of their reach, trying to get away. At that time, she had frantically wished that her parents would be safe and alright, until the big bad wizard was gone and the world was no longer in such a disarray. That was all she could truly remember up till then. Because, the next thing she knew, she was in midair somewhere definitely not in the vicinity of her house.

Correction - she was in midair, in a sleigh, face to face with Santa Claus. At least, someone who looks like Santa Claus, who was also riding in a sleigh drawn by reindeers. If she had not been scared witless barely a few seconds ago, she probably would have reacted with excitement and enthusiasm and pelted him with a few hundred questions. As it was, she was terrified, scared out of her mind and going into the 'overloaded' zone in her head. Everything happened too suddenly, went by too fast, giving her no time to catch up and it was too much for a seven year old still half in shock to comprehend. So she did what most people would do in her situation.

She passed out.

(Well, actually, she fainted. From the shock, or the fact that the first time she actually used her magic, she used too much, she could not tell. But she would never admit that she fainted. Truthfully, she only swayed a little, before passing out. Passing out, not fainting. Nymphadora Tonks do not do fainting, no, sire, she has dignity too.)

When she woke up the next morning, though, she was back at home, in a house with everything upturned, as if someone had let a gale sweep through it. Her parents laid next to her, unconscious but thankfully not dead. Not yet. The way they were, though, so still… She was scared for them. So she ran down the street to get help.

She ignored the incident in favour of the more immediate matters. Afterwards, she choose to forgot about it, pushing it to the back of her mind. She never wanted to picture her parents like that, ever again.

* * *

It was 1984, and she was on the train to Hogwarts. She was reading her storybook, Jack Blank, when someone knocked on the door to her compartment and asked her if he could stay there. Curiosity had her letting him stay, after which he introduced himself as Charlie Weasley. Despite being sorted into Hufflepuff whereas he was sorted into Gryffindor, they remained good friends. She was introduced to Bill Weasley, Charlie's older brother, and he quickly became a mentor to both of them. He had a sense of humour she liked.

Charlie taught her how to handle the nifflers and all the other pets Hagrid introduces them to, while she helped him in Defence against Dark Arts, helping him learn the spells. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and they were both content with it. Until they were both 13 and she realised that she had came to see him as more than a friend and asked him out, since it seemed unlikely that he would make the first move. Of course, he rejected her. It put a strain on their friendship, and they drifted apart.

Then it was the Christmas holidays and she was one of the only people left in school, since her parents did not dare have her home that year. It's been three years since she had celebrated Christmas at home, and she missed it. So she borrowed one of the school brooms and went flying. Swooping up and down, doing barrels and enjoying herself, she felt free. She could not understand why, but she always felt safe when she was high up. There's a reason her favourite spot in the school was the astronomy tower. There's also a reason she loved flying, even if she did not play Quidditch in her house team.

When she landed on the ground, though, all the euphoria evaporated and she felt sad. Which was an unusual emotion for her, she was always bubbly and happy, confused sometimes, sure, but she was never sad. So she made a wish to the stars that night, making one request for Christmas.

The wish never came true.

(She had hoped, but Christmas came and went, and it was school again, and her wish still never came true. The next year, she made the same request, going as far as to writing it in a letter and sealing it, but she never got around to sending it. It was left buried, at the bottom of her trunk, and she forgot about it the same time she stopped believing in the magic of Christmas and Santa Claus.)

* * *

In 1989, Hogwarts was introduced to the terror that was the Weasley twins. Tonks often assisted them, although her involvement was never disclosed to anyone else. Even though her relationship with Charlie was never like what it used to be, they were friends once more, and she got over her crush on him.

1989 was also the year Voldemort disappeared and the wizarding world rejoiced. Everyone spoke about the miracle, Harry Potter, the toddler who had defeated the most powerful wizard in the world.

It was the same year she went home to celebrate Christmas with her parents once more. She had almost forgotten how it was like, celebrating Christmas at home.

She worked hard, after Charlie became a prefect and she remained a student. She decided that, when she was older, she would become an Auror, because she wanted to be like her parents. She did not desist in her "misbehaviour", though, choosing to continue helping the Weasley twins prank unsuspecting victims.

On her graduation day, with her transcript of three Exceed Expectations and two Outstandings, she realised her dreams of training to become an Auror. When she did eventually become one at 21 years old, she was congratulated by both of her parents, and her father's extensive family. She could not remember most of their names, nor could she recognise them, but she was so happy, she thanked each and every one of them. After which, she went to her room, pulled out her trunk and started taking all of her items out of it with the intentions of keeping away the useless books to make room for her new equipments.

That was when she came across the sealed letter from so many years ago. The one where she had written one wish in, the one she had left behind in her childhood with her belief in Christmas.

Only, the letter was no longer sealed. Someone had read it, but the letter was untouched, dusty with the layers of dust accumulated over the years. Surprised, she picked it up, turning it around, casting a few spells she was taught, revealing no trace of any magic.

Then, her parents called her to go down for dinner, and she hurried downstairs, forgetting about the letter once more.

* * *

She had been so excited about her mission - it was her first one, she had the right to be excited about it. Of course, it would have to go wrong, since it was her and Moody's undercover mission to track down and uncover a smuggling ring.

They were so close to finding the head when they were discovered, by the janitor, of all people. Obviously, since he worked in the smuggling ring, the janitor was prepared for the eventuality that someone tried to break in. So, when Moody tackled him, he threw his mop and his bucket at her. She was left spluttering, completely drenched and freezing her behind off.

Because obviously, she could not have gotten hit by something normal, she had to be hit by a portkey which had left her disorientated in the middle of somewhere snowy, with miles and miles of expenses of ice in every direction and absolutely no sign of other witches and wizards, or even humans.

* * *

_This is called the prologue because they have not met yet. This story would be a short one, probably only about three chapters long. Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 1

_Here's the first chapter! Alright, after writing this, I realised that at this rate, it might just go beyond three chapters. It still wouldn't reach the 10k length, though, at least, I don't think it would. Let me know what you think!_

**Chapter 1**

"Bugger it all," Tonks muttered, as she trudged slowly across the stretch of snow and ice in search of somewhere inhabitable, a shelter of sorts that she could stay for one night at. This wasteland was cold and freezing and absolutely not where she had envisioned she would be spending Christmas eve at.

She had hoped to wrap up the case before Christmas so she could go home, but some complications had delayed them by a day and now… Now she would be lucky to get home before New Year. At this rate, she would probably still be stuck in the middle of the arctic desert even after New Year. North Pole, South Pole, Antarctic, Arctic… She had no idea which one she was in.

Almost absentmindedly, she found herself glancing up at the sky and wishing to the twilight star that she could get home in time. Then she forced herself to look back down and around her. Wishes made to the star never came true. But...

She had almost given hopes of finding a shelter for the night and was resigned to sleeping on the snow when she spotted a towering structure in the distance, half sheltered by some mountains. Seeing a little hope, she picked up her pace and started running towards the strange building. She did not question why, she was just grateful that there was likely going to be someone there, and people were always good news.

Right?

* * *

North had had enough of Jack Frost. It was Christmas Eve, and Jack Frost was putting bumps all over the place in his road, and he was running out of patience to deal with it.

First it was the frozen stairways and pulleys. Then it was the disappearing toys. Then the elves decided to get involved and destroyed one whole section of toys. Then the elves decide to help make up for their troubles. They had good intentions, but they were getting underfoot and in the way of everyone. Then North had to rescue them from the fairy lights they get themselves tangled in.

On top of that, Jack's was everywhere. Even after Phil threw him out again, and locked him out so they could restore some state of semblance, it was still a cacophony of, well, everything. Makes sense that even when he was gone, he would still leave the trail of chaos in his wake.

Of course, that was around the time that Bunnymund showed up. On normal days, North would have welcomed him, the moon knows that they needed more bonding time, but right now? Right now, he was sorely tempted to kick him out of his factory. Jack had already made a mess of everything, he cannot afford any distractions at all. He needed to focus completely on his work in restoring the order and make Christmas magical for children all around the world.

Then someone knocked on his back door. The one Phil threw Jack out of. North was trying to untangle the fairy lights tangled on the doorknob when he heard the knocks, and ignored them. It helps that even though Bunnymund was helping him, he was also giving him a nonstop running commentary as to why this proves that Easter was better than Christmas. The commentary was annoying, but at least he could tune it out easily.

Both of them got a rather nasty shock when the door was literally blasted off its hinges. They got an even bigger shock when they discovered that Jack was not the one responsible for the destroyed door - the woman with bubblegum pink hair standing at the door, holding a stick, with Jack was hovering warily behind was proof enough.

* * *

A sharp gust of wind blew Tonks off her feet as she tried to decide whether she should use a spell to speed up her journey, causing her to land a few feet back. Instinctively, she drew her wand.

There was no one around, though. Even if Tonks would swear that she could almost hear someone laughing. "It's just a particularly strong gust of wind," she told herself. "There's no one else here. Not in the middle of a godforsaken place like this."

She had just taken a few steps forward when the gust of wind bowled her over again, this time from the back. Scrambling to get up, she pointed her wand at the mound of snow standing at where she was before. There, there was the laughter again. It faded when she tried to listen for it.

It occurred to her then that whoever it was seemed to like laughing, so if she startled a laugh out of him or her, she could try to locate the person and pin them down. Especially since she could hear them, but not see them. 'Invisibility cloak?' she wondered. Except that there was no footprints. And she did not know what entertains the mysterious viewer there. She was not going to make a fool of herself for the sake of this.

Out of frustration, she turned her hair bubblegum pink, as she was prone to do when she wanted to think. To her surprise, the laughter sounded again. It was somewhere to her left. She leapt for it, shouting, "Got you!"

And tripped on her foot. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. It never came. Opening her eyes, she realised that she was suspended there, as if someone had caught her. The gust of wind passed under her, sweeping her up and forward, startling her.

"Woah, if you want to give me a ride, at least let me know that you were going to do so!" she yelled, trying to hold on and failing to find a handhold as the...air she was riding on picked up speed. "Slow down!" she practically screamed. The wind ignored her.

After a while, as the initial shock wore down, adrenaline pumped through her veins and she started enjoying the feeling of going a few hundred miles an hour on thin air, without even a broomstick. The cold, brittle wind against her cheeks bit into her, but they rushed by so quickly that they barely registered. Everything seemed to blur together.

She was dumped on the snow rather unceremoniously, landing in a heap as the wind came to an abrupt stop in front of a factory. After staring at the door for a while, she realised that this was the structure she had tried to get to. She got up looked around. There still was no one around. Tonks cleared her throat, then paused awkwardly, facing nothing. "So… um… whoever you are, wherever you are, thanks for the ride… and… uh… I wouldn't mind knowing who you are…" she trailed off. There was no reply, except for a breeze across her cheeks. There was a sudden chill on her nose.

She turned to look at the door. There was no doorbell, or knocker. There was not even a doorknob. Truthfully, the only reason she could tell that it was a door was because there was an outline and the snow in front of it was swept aside, as if someone had opened the door. There was also a few footprints, although she could not tell what they belonged to. They were too big to be another human being's.

Gathering up her courage, she walked up to the door and knocked on it. No one answered. She knocked again, louder, and there was still no reply. She kept trying, but no one ever answered the door, and the sun has set. She sat down in front of the door and stared at it. Then she slowly got angry. It was dark and cold out here, and she was hungry, damnit, so why wouldn't this person open the door? There was definitely someone living in there, someone had to have opened the door and walked around, even if that someone was a something. It was Christmas Eve, she wanted to go home and spend the time with her family, not here in the middle of a wasteland starving and freezing! Getting up, she marched up to the door once more and knocked loudly. No one answered, as she was expecting.

Exhaling, she took a few steps backwards, drew her wand and muttered, "Reducto!"

The door was blasted off its hinges, leaving her with a grim sense of satisfaction. 'At least I would have somewhere to stay,' she thought, 'if not something to eat.'

Then she realised that someone was actually standing there. The surprise had her blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

* * *

The first thing the bubblegum hair woman said was, "Why would someone willingly live in the middle of this freezing wasteland?"

North could practically see the headache building up even before Bunnymund joined the conversation with an enthusiastic "That's exactly the point I've been trying to make for the past few centuries! I don't know her name and I already like her!"

Closing his eyes, he pinched his nose. "Focus, we are here on an important meeting to discuss strat-" he was cut off by the woman, who was staring at Bunnymund as if she had never seen the likes of him before.

"Why is there a talking kangaroo in the middle of what I suspect is the Antarctic?"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

To be fair, she definitely had not seen the likes of Bunnymund before. That did not stop Bunnymund from spluttering over the indignity and proclaiming that he was a bunny, not a kangaroo. Jack Frost then proceeded to stroll in casually, enthusiastically pointing out that he definitely was not the only one who thought that Bunnymund was a kangaroo.

She turned to him and gaped at him too.

North wondered briefly how she could see them, since most adults do not believe and therefore cannot see them. Then the more pressing thoughts of getting ready for Christmas took over and he turned back to his work.

* * *

After the big Russian-looking thug lumbered away, calling out orders, the kangaroo-who-calls-himself-a-bunny huffed and followed him off. The human-looking teenager smiled at her. She stared at him even more. After a while, the smile faded and he looked confused. "You can see me?" he asked.

Tonks blinked. "Yes…"

His eyes widened. He dived forward, getting into her space. He halted with his face barely inches from hers.

"Really? How? Do you believe in me? Wow, I've never had many believers and there is now an adult believer!" He finished that in one breath, punctuating it with a loop the loop on his staff. He circled her a few times, then landed in front of her, before taking off and looping all around her. At the same speed as his flight, he continued, "So you can see me? Can you see the yetis? North? The elves? Everything else? Are you one of us too? Then how old are you, how come none of us knew of you? But you don't have the same feeling…."

Tonks was going cross-eyed trying to keep track of him. "Slow down." He obeyed, sitting crosslegged in front of her, in mid-air. "Believers?" she asked, her mind finally catching up with his words.

He frowned at her confusedly. "You don't know?" Then he brightened up. "Maybe you just don't know the term. I'm Jack Frost, and the kangaroo is the Easter Bunny, and North is Santa Claus. You can see us, so you believe in us, so you are a believer."

"Santa Claus is real?" Tonks was having a hard time digesting this.

"You didn't know?" The teenager - Jack Frost, sounded so surprised, as if it was common knowledge.

"Am I supposed to?" She snapped waspishly. Although a hazy recollection of a sled and being in midair for one night slipped into her mind. She frowned a little.

Clearly not liking the tone she took, the corners of the boy's mouth was turned down as he muttered, "Well, I was under the impression that only believers could see us."

The Big-Russian-Guy, Santa Claus, apparently, bustled by. "There are certain circumstances to allow people who might not be believers to see us, although that is so hard to fulfill that the cases are rare, few and far between."

He disappeared partially into the chaos in the factory-of-a-sort without much explanation. Gods, Tonks felt like a little kid again. Making up names for everything she was not quite sure what the actual name for it was.

Then, everything actually registered fully. "Santa Claus is real!?"

"Yes?"

"He's actually real?"

"Haven't I just confirmed that?"

"It's true?"

Jack Frost looked exasperated and annoyed. "How many times would I need to repeat that for that to sink in?"

The reality of everything crashed in when he said that and for a moment, everything around her seemed to flicker out. Then everything came back into focus when her brain apparently decided to malfunction and she sank down onto the floor. Sitting there, she stared at the scene around her, apparently having zoned out, since the next thing she knew, Jack Frost was waving a hand around in front of her.

"Anybody home?"

"Santa Claus is real?" she repeated, her mind stuck on it. Gods, she sounded like a broken record label, the one her father showed her. At this rate, she would never be able to get her brain to function again.

* * *

The woman's reaction was worrying, to say the least, and Jack Frost was not one to get worried easily. He does not really deal with adults, however, he was pretty sure that someone who was fine would be able to comprehend fully what was going on instead of being stuck on one fact. He was also pretty sure that while bubblegum pink hair was unusual, people's hair does not usually change colour randomly.

North had said something about people who does not know that they believe, maybe she was one of them? Then his previous approach definitely was not working. Instead of just crouching down in front of her, he mirrored her pose and looked at her in the eye. Then, slowly, he let a grin spread across his face as he extended his hand and asked, "Want to have some fun?"

She looked at him, a little slow on the uptake, before taking his hand and allowing herself to be pulled up. He created a snowball in one hand without her seeing, then turned around and threw it in her face. She froze. For a moment, Jack was afraid he had done something wrong, before she positively beamed at him and her hair changed to a bubblegum pink of a lighter shade, and went from curly to spiky.

"What are we going to do if I say yes?"

"What do you say?"

The grin went became wicked. "We do whatever we want, as long as it does not harm anyone?" It sounded more like a statement than a question, however, there was a slight lilt at the end of her sentence.

Jack matched her grin. "I love you!"

* * *

In the hindsight, leaving the unknown woman with Jack Frost was the worst idea North could have had, especially since he knows just how Jack Frost usually handle problems. To be fair, he was slightly stressed out by the fact that the deadline was looming, however, this was an oversight that had the potential to delay him even further. He had just been getting everything into a reasonable semblance of order, and now Jack Frost has an assistant.

Before this, he had never known any adults to be capable of causing this much disruption.

"Get back to work!" he roared, hoping to be heard over the din as the yetis milled around, trying to find out what they should be doing now. The ruckus went on. Apparently, no one heard him.

He was ready to burst a vein when the woman came to a stop in front of him. She looked at him, concerned. "Are you alright?"

North was normally a patient man. He was normally perfectly capable of handling all this trouble the winter spirit can stir up, and he usually does not blow a fuse when every bit of order goes flying out of the window on Jack Frost's wind.

Today was an exception, apparently. "HOW ALRIGHT DO YOU THINK I AM!" he bellowed at her. She looked at him, a little wide-eyed.

Immediately, he felt bad, as if he had kicked his favourite puppy. Coughing, a little embarrassed, he apologised for yelling at her. Then, he realised that finally, everyone was paying attention. He then told her that she was welcome to do whatever she thinks will help.

She grinned at him and there was a faint tugging in a corner of his heart. Then, she kind of….floated….away, drifting into the crowd. Although she was not hard to distinguish, since she was the only one who was not paying any attention whatsoever to him. Banishing any distracting thoughts, he got to work again.

Giving his workshop a cursory glance, he despaired, wondering how he was meant to get things done in time. He should have banished both Bunnymund and Jack Frost from his factory during Christmas!


End file.
